The Question:

I would like information regarding the Statue of Zeus at
Olympia. I desperately need it to complete an assignment. The only
sites I can find just have descriptions of the statue. But I need more
information please.

The Answer:

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia is one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the
World. Crafted by Athenian sculptor Phidias around 435 B.C.E.
to honor the greatest Greek god and the father of the Olympic Games, it was at one
time the most famous statue in the ancient world.

The statue was 40 feet (12 meters) high and depicted Zeus
sitting regally on his throne. The robe that Zeus was wearing and the
ornaments he had on were made out of gold and his skin was made out of
ivory. He also had a wreath around his head and held a figure of his
famous messanger, Nike, in his right hand. He held a a rod with an
eagle on the end in his left hand.

Unfortunately, the statue no longer exists. After the Olympic
games were banned in 391 C.E. by the emperor Theodosius I as Pagan
practices, the temple of Zeus (where the statue was housed) was
ordered closed. Olympia was further struck by earthquakes, landslides
and floods, and the temple was damaged by fire in the fifth century
C.E.

Earlier, the statue had been transported by wealthy Greeks to a
palace in Constantinople. There, it
survived until it was destroyed by a severe fire in 462 C.E. Today
nothing remains at the site of the old temple except rocks and debris,
the foundation of the buildings, and fallen columns.